Spyderco Lock Refinement

K

Knifecutz

Joined
Jun 10, 2017
Messages
12
I am relatively new to the forums here, but have been in the knife world most of my life owning and working in knife retailers so I've had the opportunity to witness the evolution of locks over time. Its awesome how many great locks there are now! I wanted to share my thoughts on Spydercos lockback design, most specifically the lockback employed on the delica/endura. My first Delica was a Gen 2 in G2 stainless steel, then a Gen 3 in ATS55, and after a multi year hiatus from spyderco i now own the Delica 4 Wharnie in Vg10. I noticed immediately that the lockup is much more stout and demonstrates almost no movement up/down at all whereas in some of my older generations there was slight play up down almost immediately. I had also recently read that Spyderco had put more man hours and refinement into this lock than any of their others. Perhaps I'm overly detail oriented, but Im hoping someone here equally interested in knife minutia can chime in on what improvements have been made if any over time to this lock?
 
Hi Knifecutz,

Welcome to our forum and thanx much for the kind words.

We are always refining our products. We call in CQI (Constant Quality Improvement). The makers in Seki have continuously refined their locks as have the makers in our Golden, Colorado factory.

sal
 
Hi knifecutz, I have noticed the same thing. In fact, I feel like We’ve seen a notable improvement in the seki back locks in just the last few years. And the golden back locks? If you haven’t handled one of them lately you should do so forthwith. They are the best back locks in the business in my opinion.

The back lock is a surprisingly complicated lock to engineer. Spyderco must be holding some insanely tight tolerances on their backlocks these days.
 
yep. spyderco lockups have gotten far better than the competition in the last couple of years. haven't seen mild play in a spyderco lately. especially in their midlocks.
 
I agree. You really need to try a Golden back lock. Of course I am going to say try a Manix 2 back lock, but the Native 5 has the same lock. Both are very nice and very stout. The Manix 2 BL opens and locks with such authority it vibrates the knife and it snaps into place with a very loud thwack.
 
Anybody seen any of those lock fail videos? Delicas usually breaks blade before locks ever fail! For what’s not typicall considered a heavy duty knife that’s pretty confidence inspiring!!!
 
Dallas T said:
Anybody seen any of those lock fail videos? Delicas usually breaks blade before locks ever fail! For what’s not typicall considered a heavy duty knife that’s pretty confidence inspiring!!!
Click to expand...

If you mean this BladeHQ video, the Delica test was kind of flawed, in my very amateur opinion. Because of the way a back lock works and the position of the cable, it would have been nearly impossible for the lock to fail. The part of the spring that needs to lift up for the lock to release looks like it's being held in place by the metal cable. With the lock held firmly in place, the pivot was the weakest point so that's where the blade broke.

The Delica segment where the blade breaks starts around the 10:45 mark.


That said, I agree that Spyderco's back locks are fantastic and strong. I have a lot and the only ones that have even the slightest amount of vertical blade play are a couple of old Navigators, and even those still lock up solidly and reliably. None of the others have any play at all. The most recent Native models seem to be especially precise and smooth.
 
I don’t agree with that, that’s about where the strong part of the palm of hand would be on a push motion. My point being I think a hand would obstruct same spot
 
i still think its impressive that the blade broke without the lock breaking first in that video. That is some good stuff right there. Ive usually disliked the slight amount of movement kickbacks would show when cutting something with a higher degree of force, but it seems that it stays locked even if there is a slight amount of movement. Id like to see that test replicated with a G10 handle scale upgrade?
 
jbmonkey said:
yep. spyderco lockups have gotten far better than the competition in the last couple of years. haven't seen mild play in a spyderco lately. especially in their midlocks.
Click to expand...

It’s not just their backlocks (or midlocks). I don’t think I have ever gotten a Soyderci with a lock issue. Liner, frame, back, ball bearing, compression, always completely flawless with perfect geometry.
 
The manufacturing precision evident in Spyderco's products is amazing -- the tolerances of my PM2 and Military would earn kudos from Chris Reeve IMHO. My Mule in CPM 20CV is equally impressive.
 
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